To Be a Criminal
by Amethyst Turtle
Summary: The reason why she didn't join the Brotherhood of Evil. One-shot. Rated for some violence.


AN: BEFORE you read this, you should know that I know perfectly well that Blackfire would kill Starfire if she wanted to.  
I am also aware that she is quite OOC in this fic. The reason why I wrote this story is because I wanted to see if I could actually make it feel like one could sympathize with one of the most ruthless villains in the series. This was written on a whim, so I'm not so sure how it turned out.  
I was also wondering why Blackfire wasn't in the Brotherhood of Evil. That's another reason why I wrote this.

To Be a Criminal

In the dark void of space, a lone figure floated among the rugged asteroids. She slowly drifted in the vacuum, eyes closed. Ebony hair wafted around her face. She absentmindedly brushed it away and rested her feet on a small rock hanging below her. Her figure moved along with the meteor, lazily rotating in one spot.

The silence was deafening. She couldn't hear anything but her faint pulse. When she took a breath, there wasn't anything to fill her lungs. It was a curious feeling, like she was empty inside. Just like how she felt now.

Her bright purple eyes snapped open suddenly, focusing on something in front of her. Nothing, there was nothing. But a faint shadow flitted in the corner of her vision, making the girl tense and float off of her anchor. Then a small, spherical vessel came out from behind a large asteroid a few feet away from the girl. She couldn't see inside, but she was able to make out the dim outline of a figure beckoning for her to follow it. The girl's eyes narrowed. Suspicion ran through her, and she considered blowing it up on the spot. But the silhouette beckoned more impatiently, and she decided to take a chance.

The vessel turned around and flew off swiftly towards a small speck in the distance, an insignificant minor planet with oxygen but no life. Immediately, the thought of a human came to mind, but she shook her head. She followed the spaceship and rested her feet on the planet, the sound of wind whistling past her ears. The hatch on the small ship hissed opened with a muffled click.

Blackfire clenched her fists, preparing for an ambush. A tall woman calmly stepped out of the ship. Her boots left impressions in the planet's soft green soil, and the wind blew her short black hair behind her. The woman placed her hands on her hips and looked the Tamaranean once over, both disdain and approval in her dark slanted eyes.

"Vell, I can see ze family resemblance," Madame Rouge commented. Blackfire tensed.

"If you're working with Starfire," Blackfire practically spat out her sister's name. "Then I'll have to fight you." Her expression turned murderous and her hands glowed with her energy.

"Relax," Madame Rouge nonchalantly waved her hand dismissively. "I vould haf nothing to do vith those meddlesome children."

Blackfire slowly lowered her hands, and the blaze in her eyes faded. "Then what do you want?"

"I haf heard about your little… plot on your planet," Madame Rouge smirked. "I understand zat you haf a grudge against your sister?"

"And what do you care? Who are you?"

"I am Madame Rouge. I vork in ze Brotherhood of Evil," she said. "Ve plan to eliminate ze Teen Titans and ve are currently enlisting villains."

"Continue," Blackfire relaxed, though she tossed a small disc of energy between her hands a bit too casually.

"Our leader, ze Brain, is gathering criminals from all over," Madame Rouge said, unconcerned with Blackfire's subtle threat. "Ve are concentrating on finding those who know certain veaknesses of ze Titans. And since you are ze sibling of ze red-haired one, I assume you know much about her?"

"Yeah," Blackfire said cautiously. "And you want me to join your club?"

"Yes," Madame Rouge smiled wickedly. "Do you accept?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Ze painful death of your sister. Ve vill give you ze honor of killing her."

Blackfire shook her head in disgust. Her eyes took on a sinister glow again, and she charged up her starbolts.

"You don't understand, do you?" Blackfire scowled.

"Oh?" Madame Rouge asked, her eyebrows rose. "Is zere perhaps someone else you vant to kill?"

"I may be a lot of things," Blackfire snarled. "But I am not a murderer."

Blackfire threw a crackling fist at Madame Rouge before she could respond. Caught by surprise, Madame Rouge received a nasty blow to her face. She immediately straightened up.

"You do not know vat I am capable of!" Madame Rouge said threateningly. "I believe you haf made a terrible mistake!"

To Blackfire's horror, Madame Rouge's arms stretched and entwined themselves around her body, immobilizing her. The Tamaranean struggled, but the villainess proved to be stronger than she looked. She began reeling her in, her stomach enlarging and stretching to form a hollow.

Blackfire nearly gagged. No way was she going to be smothered by some old lady. Concentrating, twin bolts of energy shot out of her eyes and burned Madame Rouge's arms. She cried out in pain and let go. Blackfire quickly shot into the dark orange sky. Madame Rouge recovered in a split second and threw her arms up after the girl. They caught her around a foot and slammed her back into the verdant dirt. Before Blackfire could jump back up, Madame Rouge grabbed her again and swung her around straight into a large cerulean boulder. The stone cracked under the impact and shards flew all around them. Blackfire groaned, holding a nasty gash on her forehead. She glared hatefully at Madame Rouge and shot multiple starbolts at her. They were dodged with ease and flew off harmlessly into space.

"You are no match for me, child," Madame Rouge laughed. She dusted herself off and looked down distastefully at Blackfire. "I vill not waste my time fighting you. Ve do not require you in our leagues any longer."

Without another word, Madame Rouge hopped into her spacecraft and flew off into space, back to Earth. After a few minutes, Blackfire pulled herself out of the rubble. Slowly, she floated up and out of the planet's atmosphere. The silence returned and she drifted back into the field of asteroids.

Blackfire closed her eyes and leaned back, hovering among the rocks. A stone brushed past her hand, and she grabbed at it without opening her eyes. The stone crumbled into dust without a sound. Blackfire sighed. She was offered a chance to finally get her revenge. But why hadn't she accepted?

Her teeth grit together as Starfire's face came to mind. Blackfire hated how she was constantly happy, always the naïve, ditsy one. Always the one to win. Absentmindedly, Blackfire lashed her leg out, inadvertently crushing a small meteor. Blackfire yelled out, the sound swallowed by the emptiness of space.

She was the one who was born defective.

She was the one who always had to be the babysitter.

She was the one who suffered longer at the hands of the Psion.

She was the one who could never go back home.

A tear found its way out of her eye for the first time in years. As much as Blackfire hated her planet for shunning her, it was still home. And she was now exiled, forbidden from returning ever again. She was now homeless.

Blackfire curled up into a fetal position and came to rest on an asteroid that was conveniently floating below her. Another tear fell on her arm, followed by a third one. X'Hal, why did she have to be alone? Blackfire curled up tighter. She was so alone, so alone. And yet, deep inside, she knew that she had accepted her current lifestyle years ago. Being shirked as a child helped whet her inner anger and aggression. Blackfire bit her knee as her painful childhood memories came back up, particularly flashbacks of Gordonian slavery.

So much pain…

What had she become? An heir to the crown of Tamaran, reduced to a common thief. Starfire would never know what it would feel like, being all alone. She had her mutant Earthling friends. Blackfire had no one.

But then, why didn't she accept Madame Rouge's offer? Blackfire thought back to their short conversation.

_"I understand zat you haf a grudge against your sister?"_

Maybe it was true. Blackfire would have gladly joined her right then, have it not been for her next offer.

_"Ve vill give you ze honor of killing her."_

No. Blackfire wasn't that low, not like she was years ago. No matter how much hatred she nursed inside her heart, she wouldn't kill her family in cold blood. Not anymore.

_"I may be a lot of things, but I am not a murderer."_

Blackfire looked off beyond the asteroid belt, at the distant blue dot that was Earth. Starfire didn't realize how close the Teen Titans had come to gaining another enemy they were fighting against.

Blackfire chuckled silently to herself, but it died out quickly.

She was all alone, nothing but another criminal in the void of space.

It wasn't easy.

But that was who she was.

It was her choice, no matter how painful.

AN: Personally, I thought I did an okay job. Maybe Blackfire was a bit too soft and emotional. I also think I messed up a bit on Madame Rouge's accent.  
Reviews and thoughts will be appreciated :D


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